Survival Buzz: Catching Up With Prepping Following a Relocation

April 18, 2016

One of the challenges of relocating, even temporarily, is that your preps take second fiddle to the rest of the logistics. And then, boom! You realize that if something happens, you may be at risk of not being ready.

During this period, I have not focused on reporting about my preps since to me, they were quite mundane. Instead, I selected various topics and themes for each week’s Survival Buzz. Now that I am counting the days before I leave for home, I thought I would catch up a bit with a handful of recent preps.

After storing them in the freezer for a month to kill any bugs and their eggs, I packaged two 25 pound bags of white rice and bread flour. As far as the freezing part, this is not something I have done in the past and I am hopeful that as I open my home-packed food storage, the little critters do not hatch and take over. I don’t think so, however, since I also store large quantities in my pantry for day to day use and have yet to see a critter.

Note that if you do want to freeze rice, flour, and grains, 3 or 4 days should be sufficient.

Funny story: Shelly aka the Survival Husband used the syrup on his pancakes, although he did not realize it was not that type of syrup. Talk about a boost to the immune system.

Not be be a tease, but I will be posting both the recipe and some common uses for Elderberry soon.

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I also made up a batch of “The Birch” aches and pains salve.

Why do I call it “The Birch” when it contains equal amounts of Lemongrass and Geranium? Birch essential oil is very potent and was the only oil I used as I was trying to come up with an effective formula for arthritic joints. As I tried various combination of synergistic oils, I added and subtracted until I settled on the final concoction.

That’s about it for my recent preps. I have lots of announcement so I better get to it!

Backdoor Survival Mail Bag

A few days ago I received an email from Tom in Idaho asking about MREs. He had read my scathing report of some MREs I tested way back when, and wondered whether things had changed. Was I still skeptical?

Here was my response:

Hi Tom,

Like you, I am very skeptical of MREs. From what I have learned, many companies that sell MREs to the military also sell MREs to the public but they are not the same formulation. I have shunned them for that reason since I really do try to consume only real food, made with real ingredients.

Now, quite coincidentally, I just learned from my contact over at Mountain House that they have a limited supply of LRP entrees on their site right now. (LRP = Long Range Patrol Ration). These are the real deal, special forces meals they sell to the military. He sent me this link: http://bit.ly/21Xjr9O.

I trust Mountain House and don’t believe they would tell me something that is not true. If you decide to try them (or any other MRE), please do get back in touch with your thoughts.

Do you have any experience with MREs, positive or negative? Be sure to let me know.

Get Aftermath for Free

By now you know that I like to support other bloggers that put out quality work as well as indie authors. One person who is both is LeAnn Edmondson (also known as the Homestead Dreamer). LeAnn lives in one of my favorite places, Ketchikan Alaska and is a great gal.

Anyway, she is offering her eBook, Aftermath: A Story of Survival, for free between now and April 3rd. You can download it here.

Current Backdoor Survival Giveaways

There are two really great giveaways this week. Actually, all of our giveaways are good; I know because I kiss a lot of frogs to weed out the junk.

With all giveaways, winners are notified by email and have 48 hours to claim their prize or an alternate will be selected. Once selected, the names of winners are also displayed in the Rafflecopter on the original giveaway article. This usually happens on the Friday following the end of the giveaway.

No April Fool’s – 15% off Spark Naturals this Month

There is a lot going on at Spark Naturals these days, the biggest of which is that for the month of April, you will get 15% (rather than 10%) on your purchases that use my code BACKDOORSURVIVAL at checkout.

Not only that, but this discount is on top of any other weekly specials they may have going on. I try not to go crazy sending out emails telling you about the specials and only do so when they are exceptional. You can, however, always find their latest deals on a special page that I update weekly, Shop the Weekly Specials from Spark Naturals.

Now that I have said all that, sometimes I do get behind (like right now), so here is what is going on right now.

All diffusers are on sale through Sunday at 20% off. Add my discount code and that is 35% off. If you have been waiting to purchase a diffuser, the moment is now. My favorites are the ZAQ Dew and the ZAQ Noor.

In addition, there is a brand new, Premium Oil of the Month Club. This Premium OOTM club is featuring the more expensive oils in the larger, 15ML size. The cost is $24.99 a month.

Here is the rollout for the balance of 2016:

April – Tasa Diffuser
May – Frankincense
June – LXR
July – Ylang Ylang
August – Focus
September – Vetiver
October –Women’s Kit
November – Juniper Berry
December – Cinnamon

Shipping is free with the OOTM club and just to give you an idea of the value, a 15ML bottle of Frankincense is normally $70 but with the Premium OOTM club, only $24.99. The best part is that you can start and stop at any time. Can you tell I am excited?

Note that because the oils in the OOTM club are already discounted, there is no additional discount using my coupon code.

How Can You Help?

I continue to get emails asking about donations. Nope, nada, not interested. I work hard at finding quality sponsors so that you do not have to pay to visit the site or listen to me whine (beg) for donations. That is never going to happen.

So how can you help?

If you are on the social media (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.) share my articles and my photos. That is one of the best ways to help me get the word out because honestly, I don’t have the time to do it all myself.

You can also initiate all of your Amazon.com purchases by coming to this site first and clicking on any of my links. By now you should know that most bloggers do earn a small commission on your Amazon purchases.

And finally, you can continue to leave comments and tips so that everyone, including me, can learn from them. I have always said, you know, that you are the best blog readers on the planet.

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The Final Word

You may have picked up on the comment that I will be heading home soon and am counting the days. I have learned a lot during this grand adventure but am sure the scope of it all will not be fully realized until I am safely tucked away in my seaside cottage. It does not hurt that my cottage is also the perfect survival retreat.

None of us really know what lies ahead and even when or if that “something” is going to happen. What we do know is that with each passing day, the crazies and suicide bombers are attacking innocents, and our politicians and corporations continue to be mostly fueled by ego and greed. Nothing is what it seems.

My advice is to keep on prepping, doing what you can to further the pursuit of self-reliance. So what about you – what did you do to prep this week?

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye

This 99 cent eBook will provide you with everything you need to create an affordable food storage plan, including what to buy and how to store it. Nothing scary and nothing overwhelming – you really can do this! Also available in print.

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter: FREE SHIPPING! The LifeStraw is considered the most advanced, compact, ultra light personal water filter available. It contains no chemicals or iodinated resin, no batteries and no moving parts to break or wear out. It weighs only 2 oz. making it perfect for the prepper. For more information, see my LifeStraw review.

Rothco MOLLE Compatible Water Bottle Pouch: I never would have considered using a water pouch as an EDC bag. This one is a MOLLE compatible pouch so it can be easily attached to the rest of your MOLLE gear. It features MOLLE loops around the entire pouch, two 6 inch straps on the back, and D-rings on each side. The straw hole on the top and a drain hole makes hydration simple. A perfect companion to my favorite Rothco Medium Transport Pack. I own three of these packs – two in black and one in tan.

5.11 MOLLE Padded Pouch: When I read about the “food pouch”, I had one of those “why didn’t I think of that moments”!

Cobra Products 4-Way Sillcock Key: This 4-way sillcock key has a 1/4″ , 9/32″, 5/16″ and 11/32″ stem to service most sillcocks in common use. It is durable, easy to use and has an attractive finish. Used to open and close sillcocks or spigots and made of durable steel construction.

Dorcy Waterproof LED Flashlight with Carabineer Clip: This is a floating waterproof flashlight that provides 55-lumens of light output and a 31-meter beam distance. I am a big fan of Dorcy products so this one is definitely going in my shopping cart as well. Not that I need more flashlights! Wait – you can never have too many!!

Preferred by Backdoor Survival. This is the Emergency Food I buy for my own use. It is non-GMO and MSG-free plus there are 100% Gluten-Free options. Shipping is always free. CLICK HERE TO ORDER.

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Need something from Amazon (and who doesn’t)?

I earn a small commission from purchases made when you begin your Amazon shopping experience here. You still get great Amazon service and the price is the same, no matter what.

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